Slim Jim pausing WWE sponsorships due to ‘disturbing’ Vince McMahon allegations

Due to the horrifying allegations that have been made against Vince McMahon, Slim Jim is pausing its relationship with WWE.

Slim Jim issued a statement on Friday confirming that it has decided to pause its promotional activities with WWE. WrestleVotes first reported that there had been rumblings that Slim Jim was pulling its sponsorships from this Saturday’s Royal Rumble event.

Slim Jim said it will “continue to monitor the situation and base our future engagements on our values and what’s best for our brand.”

The full statement can be read below:

Slim Jim values integrity and respect in all of our partnerships. Given the recent disturbing allegations against Vince McMahon, at this time we’ve decided to pause our promotional activities with WWE. This decision reflects our commitment to our brand values and responsibility to our community.

We will continue to monitor the situation and base our future engagements on our values and what’s best for our brand.

When WWE and Slim Jim’s partnership was announced last August, it was touted as the “largest sponsorship deal in WWE history.” The partnership has included Slim Jim sponsoring a 25-man battle royal at last year’s SummerSlam.

LA Knight and Bianca Belair have been featured in WWE’s Slim Jim advertisements.

WWE and Slim Jim recently announced a WrestleMania 40 sweepstakes where the winner would receive a WrestleMania trip along with the official Slim Jim car.

Slim Jim’s decision to pause the promotional activity comes after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit on Thursday alleging that she was the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and trafficking while at WWE. Vince McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

WWE’s parent company TKO Group Holdings released the following statement yesterday:

Mr. McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE. While this matter predates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.

McMahon, who is the executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, has vowed to “vigorously defend himself” against Grant’s allegations.